32 Delicious, Healthy Snacks That Satisfy

Popcorn

Verywell / Alexandra Shytsman

Living a healthy, balanced lifestyle means saying yes to snacks, and there are plenty of delicious options that can meet your wellness goals without restricting calories. While many health-focused snacks may be marketed as meeting a certain calorie point—100 calories per serving, for instance—they are not always the best choice. Rather, they can be restrictive, encourage excessive calorie counting, and are often too small a serving to sufficiently fuel you between meals.

Satisfaction is key, and you can achieve this through a variety of tasty snacks packed with protein, fats, and carbs. In fact, a mid-day snack can better control your blood sugar levels, preventing a crash that so often leads to overeating. Therefore, aiming for a nutritious, higher-calorie snack may promote weight management in the long term.

If you want to skip the pre-packaged foods and 100 calories snacks (often loaded with unnecessary and unhealthy ingredients), why not prep some easy-to-make snacks at home that will boost your energy and keep any hunger pangs at bay?

While measuring your portion sizes can be useful for an idea on your food intake, don't get too hung up on this. Once you're familiar with serving sizes and what an appropriate portion looks like for your body and hunger levels, you'll be able to prepare a meal or snack that satisfies your needs.

Sweet Healthy Snacks

Satisfy your sweet tooth with these nutritious and delicious snack ideas. Keep in mind that many of these foods would be better suited as desserts rather than regular snacks, so mix and match to best suits your eating habits.

  • Greek Yogurt With a Tablespoon of Nut Butter or Berries: Full of protein and calcium, you can freeze Greek yogurt to make a bark. 
  • Whole Grain Toast With Almond Butter: Add natural almond butter and a dusting of cinnamon to one slice of sprouted whole grain bread.
  • Homemade Trail Mix: In a bag, shake raisins (or a dried fruit of your choice), salted peanuts, and dark chocolate chips together for an easy on-the-go snack.
  • Homemade Protein Smoothie: Mix up the ingredients like chia seeds, flaxseed, green superfood powder, and your choice of milk.
  • Fresh Fruit With a Twist: 1 cup of grapes (try them frozen), 1 banana dipped in peanut butter, a bowl of blackberries, blueberries, and raspberries, a red or green apple with a dash of honey, or yogurt with a fruit of your choices topped with a sprinkle of sunflower seeds.
  • Mixed Nuts: Choose from almonds, Brazil nuts, cashews, pecans, and more!
  • A Whole-Wheat English Muffin: Add natural crunchy peanut butter for texture.
  • Homemade Oat Cookies: Plenty of options to add nuts, seeds, raisins, and other ingredients to a batch of homemade cookies.
  • Whole Grain Waffles: Make a batch of homemade waffles and save leftovers for during the week.

More Healthy Snacks Ideas

  • Cottage cheese (high in protein) with pineapple
  • A bowl of cooked oats with chia seeds with a teaspoon of nut butter
  • Two large squares of dark chocolate

Creativity and variety are key to keep your snacks feeling fresh, so don't be afraid to experiment with ingredients that spruce up taste and texture.

Salty Healthy Snacks

If you crave crunchy or salty snacks, here are some savory options for your list. Just remember that salty foods are more likely to make you thirsty, so make sure to rehydrate. If plain water isn't your thing, try a natural fruit seltzer or make your own flavored water infused with berries or herbs.

  • Seaweed Snacks: Available in a range of flavors including toasted coconut or almond sesame.
  • Avocado on Whole Grain: Try adding mashed avocado along with Everything Bagel seasoning on a slice of sprouted whole grain bread.
  • Hummus and Veggies: Enjoy hummus with either raw or cooked veggies
  • Hard-Boiled Eggs: With salt and pepper, or Everything Bagel seasoning and crackers.
  • Tuna Salad: Tuna with veggies of your choice
  • DIY Popcorn: Homemade popcorn with the addition of either chili powder, salt, and pepper, cinnamon, melted butter, nutritional yeast, or chocolate chips for different flavors. 
  • Half Turkey Sandwich: Turkey breast, whole-grain bread, mustard, and veggies. Swap turkey for another protein source.
  • Hummus and Veggies: Hummus and raw carrots
  • Cucumber (Seeded) Stuffed: With lean turkey and mustard or mayonnaise.
  • Lettuce Roll-Up: Stuffed with sliced ham or beef and cabbage, carrots, or peppers.
  • Topped Cucumber Slices: Add cottage cheese and salt and pepper
  • Kale Chips: Homemade or store-bought kale chips.

Other Salty Snacks Ideas

Prefer to prepare something fresh? Try making a small salad of cubed tomatoes and sliced cucumber, sprinkled with feta and a dash of salt and pepper. Whip up a small batch and portion it out into individual servings for ready-made snacks.

The Importance of Protein

Whether you prefer sweet or salty snacks (or a mix of both), adding a small portion of protein to your snack is a good idea that tends to fill you up faster.

Even if it adds some additional calories, adding a small portion of a high protein food, like a hard-boiled egg, an ounce of cheese, some Greek yogurt, or a few slices of turkey breast to your snack will keep you satisfied for longer.

A Word From Verywell

Contrary to popular belief, there are plenty of delicious snacks that fit into a healthy lifestyle. Fueling your body with key nutrients not only helps you care for your body, but keeps you satisfied in between meal times and when snacking after a workout.

Avoid snacks that are hyper-focused on marketing their caloric value. While 100-calories per serving may sound like an ideal situation if you're worried about weight management, a holistically healthy mindset and learning to listen to what your body needs is healthy for long-term wellness. If you have any nutrition questions or concerns, speak to a health care professional.

Frequently Asked Questions

  • What should I look for in a snack?

    Focus on ingredients that will keep you fueled and energized, such as complex carbs that are often full of fiber to help steady your blood sugar levels and ward off cravings. Healthy fats (unsaturated), such as omega 3 (found in nuts, seeds, and fish), are excellent sources of nutrition for maintaining heart health and healthy cholesterol levels.

    Another consideration is protein content, which is essential for growth (including to repair and grow muscles), development, and its role in keeping you satiated.

    Ideally, you want to balance all of these components when selecting a snack that will satisfy you.

  • ​How many calories should a snack have?

    Your snacking calories will depend on your daily caloric needs, which differ for each person depending on sex, height, weight, and activity level. As an example, a person eating 2,000 calories a day may want to contribute 500 calories towards two snacks in between meals. However, these snacks should still fit into your daily macronutrient intake. In other words, think of them more as mini meals with a purpose to nutritionally fuel you and keep blood sugar levels balanced, to reduce subsequent snacking throughout the day.

  • Are 100-calorie snack packs good for you?

    Although 100-calorie snacks may seem convenient if you're watching your calorie intake, they may be more restrictive and less satisfying than a nutrient and calorie dense snack. Rather than getting too hung up on the numbers, consider combining a 100-calorie snack alongside an additional carb, fat, or protein that will sustain you for longer, such as a bowl of berries, a handful of almonds, or Greek yogurt.

4 Sources
Verywell Fit uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read our editorial process to learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
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